The first hour largely had been spent on an overview of California Health Decisions-Orange County Project, the ambitious grass-roots effort designed to elicit public opinion on health care issues. Now it was time for the "open discussion" portion of the project's first town hall meeting.

As president of a nonprofit consumer organization long involved in health care issues, I'd like to commend PacifiCare for the steps it is taking to help its members access their health care more effectively ("Putting the 'Care' Into Managed Care, Before Reformers Do," Sept. 8, 1998). I was most heartened by PacifiCare's plans to call every one of its 600,000 Secure Horizon Medicare plan members this year and invite their opinions. This shows a willingness to listen to the very real concerns that managed care patients have with their health plans.

It was late in the afternoon when Ellen Severoni, executive director of California Health Decisions--Orange County Project, surveyed the room full of delegates at the project's first Health Care Parliament. Severoni was pleased. "What people are telling me, overwhelmingly, is they're happy to be here, they feel they have had input and that it (the project) is important," said Severoni, a registered nurse, who helped launch the project.

I am writing to you after reading the column "Lean Times Demand More Efficient Leadership" (March 27) by Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez. I find myself in the involuntary role of contributing to the "leaner, more efficient way . . . " the county is doing business. I don't doubt that some of the measures to streamline health care have resulted in "one of the lowest county employee-to-citizen ratios among major counties in America. . . ." The elimination of the county hospital certainly reduced the number of county employees involved in health care.

California Health Decisions, a nonprofit consumer education project based in Orange, has received a $40,000 grant from the UniHealth Corp. of Burbank to expand its programs into Los Angeles County, executive director Ellen Severoni said. In addition to the grant, UniHealth has agreed to provide office space and telephones for her organization at its hospitals in Santa Monica, Long Beach, Northridge and downtown Los Angeles, Severoni said.

Your editorial "Hard Choices in Health" (April 22) speaks to the desperate need for more funding for the poor, and our patchwork health care system which badly needs revising. It also mentions Alameda County's plan to set priorities for the limited dollars as a temporary expedient. One critical link is missing from the plan for professional organizations to do the planning--the opinion of an informed public, made aware of the ethical and economic choices. Oregon did not make that mistake and asked Oregon Health Decisions, an organization devoted to public awareness and involvement in medical ethical matters, to advise the state legislature.

The addition of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian's new heart transplant program (Feb. 18) provides an opportunity for the Orange County community to examine the myriad of ethical, legal and financial issues in health care policies and practices. Hoag Hospital is deservedly considered one of the finest in the county, and so it concerns me to learn that it was not the hospital's initial aim to start a transplant program but that the decision was made to accommodate Drs. Aidam Raney and Douglas Zusman's conditions of employment.

As president of a nonprofit consumer organization long involved in health care issues, I'd like to commend PacifiCare for the steps it is taking to help its members access their health care more effectively ("Putting the 'Care' Into Managed Care, Before Reformers Do," Sept. 8, 1998). I was most heartened by PacifiCare's plans to call every one of its 600,000 Secure Horizon Medicare plan members this year and invite their opinions. This shows a willingness to listen to the very real concerns that managed care patients have with their health plans.

Taking her place behind a makeshift podium, Sister Corrine Bayley scanned the crowd of more than 200 Orange County residents jammed into the Costa Mesa City Council chambers. "This is not just the beginning of a meeting," Bayley said, "but the beginning of a movement that I think could be for the '80s what civil rights was for the '60s."

Your excellent editorials "Rich and Poor Alike Deserve Health Care" (Aug. 6), and "A Penny-Wise Legacy" (Aug. 8), are the latest of many recent articles and editorials on the health-care crisis in California and Orange County. The Aug. 6 editorial ends on the note that recent reports "provide disturbing documentation that when it comes to the health of the less affluent, there is far too little curing--or caring." I don't think the last point is true. Poll after poll reports that over 80% of Americans and Californians believe everyone should have access to basic health care regardless of ability to pay. The same view was expressed by over 80% of about 7,000 Orange County residents in public discussions sponsored by California Health Decisions, a nonprofit organization concerned with the ethics and economics of health-care issues.

What is wrong with this picture? On July 25, the budget for the next fiscal year was presented to the Orange County Board of Supervisors. It called for a 5% across-the-board cut. The presentation of the public safety portion of the budget was followed immediately by eloquent appeals from the district attorney, sheriff and public defender. They all pointed out the devastating consequences of such a cut on public safety. This was followed by the health-care budget, also reduced by 5%. There was not one single comment from any member of the Health Care Agency.

California Health Decisions, a nonprofit consumer education project based in Orange, has received a $40,000 grant from the UniHealth Corp. of Burbank to expand its programs into Los Angeles County, executive director Ellen Severoni said. In addition to the grant, UniHealth has agreed to provide office space and telephones for her organization at its hospitals in Santa Monica, Long Beach, Northridge and downtown Los Angeles, Severoni said.

Your excellent editorials "Rich and Poor Alike Deserve Health Care" (Aug. 6), and "A Penny-Wise Legacy" (Aug. 8), are the latest of many recent articles and editorials on the health-care crisis in California and Orange County. The Aug. 6 editorial ends on the note that recent reports "provide disturbing documentation that when it comes to the health of the less affluent, there is far too little curing--or caring." I don't think the last point is true. Poll after poll reports that over 80% of Americans and Californians believe everyone should have access to basic health care regardless of ability to pay. The same view was expressed by over 80% of about 7,000 Orange County residents in public discussions sponsored by California Health Decisions, a nonprofit organization concerned with the ethics and economics of health-care issues.

In his June 11 column "Taking Responsibility for Medical Care," Dr. Vance Gardner challenged all segments of the county community to create a task force to tackle the tough issues of providing health care for the people of Orange County. Gardner and others may be glad to know that United Way has already taken up this challenge: The United Way Health Care Task Force has been working since 1986 with representatives from the public and private sectors to identify and resolve health care issues.

Your editorial "Hard Choices in Health" (April 22) speaks to the desperate need for more funding for the poor, and our patchwork health care system which badly needs revising. It also mentions Alameda County's plan to set priorities for the limited dollars as a temporary expedient. One critical link is missing from the plan for professional organizations to do the planning--the opinion of an informed public, made aware of the ethical and economic choices. Oregon did not make that mistake and asked Oregon Health Decisions, an organization devoted to public awareness and involvement in medical ethical matters, to advise the state legislature.

Our readers wrote letters throughout 198 7 expressing their viewpoints on a variety of issues. Here are condensed versions of some of those letters. We appreciate their taking the time to share their viewpoints and look forward to hearing from you in 1988. The addition of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian's new heart transplant program provides an opportunity for the Orange County community to examine the myriad of ethical, legal and financial issues in health care policies and practices.

Our readers wrote letters throughout 198 7 expressing their viewpoints on a variety of issues. Here are condensed versions of some of those letters. We appreciate their taking the time to share their viewpoints and look forward to hearing from you in 1988. The addition of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian's new heart transplant program provides an opportunity for the Orange County community to examine the myriad of ethical, legal and financial issues in health care policies and practices.

In his June 11 column "Taking Responsibility for Medical Care," Dr. Vance Gardner challenged all segments of the county community to create a task force to tackle the tough issues of providing health care for the people of Orange County. Gardner and others may be glad to know that United Way has already taken up this challenge: The United Way Health Care Task Force has been working since 1986 with representatives from the public and private sectors to identify and resolve health care issues.

The addition of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian's new heart transplant program (Feb. 18) provides an opportunity for the Orange County community to examine the myriad of ethical, legal and financial issues in health care policies and practices. Hoag Hospital is deservedly considered one of the finest in the county, and so it concerns me to learn that it was not the hospital's initial aim to start a transplant program but that the decision was made to accommodate Drs. Aidam Raney and Douglas Zusman's conditions of employment.

It was late in the afternoon when Ellen Severoni, executive director of California Health Decisions--Orange County Project, surveyed the room full of delegates at the project's first Health Care Parliament. Severoni was pleased. "What people are telling me, overwhelmingly, is they're happy to be here, they feel they have had input and that it (the project) is important," said Severoni, a registered nurse, who helped launch the project.